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<h1>@home media limited</h1>
<h1>mediate 1.6.11 (beta) Readme</h1>

<p>Thank you for downloading mediate from @home media limited! mediate is designed to allow you to enjoy your digital media with the utmost ease, but please take a little time to review this readme file as it contains late breaking information for this version of mediate.</p>

<h2>What's new?</h2>
<p>This release introduces a number of enhancements and features since version 1.6.0 as described below.</p>

<h3>Enhancements</h3>
<ul>
<li>Added support for embedding external applications through the use of plugins</li>
<li>Added plugin for satellite navigation using PC Navigator from Directions Ltd</li>
<li>Added support for storing theme specific settings in preferences XML file</li>
<li>Added new "music" settings screen to "ice" theme</li>
<li>Added new "mode" function ("o" key) for toggling between satnav &amp; music in car</li>
<li>Added new "configure" function ("c" key) for showing advanced settings dialog</li>
<li>Added advanced configuration setting to group directories together when browsing media files</li>
<li>Added advanced configuration setting to disable Windows balloon tips while running mediate</li>
<li>Added support for setting maximum frames per second (FPS) throttle in advanced settings</li>
<li>Added plugin properties &amp; configuration dialog to plugins page of advanced settings</li>
<li>Added column sorting functionality to plugins list in advanced settings</li>
<li>Added support for restoring previous volume setting on starting mediate</li>
<li>Added support for setting music visualisation rendering quality and improved speed</li>
<li>Added persistent command history to console, shift key support and improved scrolling speed</li>
<li>Added support for browsing and playing media with unicode filenames</li>
<li>Added context animation when using scrollbar to scroll through music library</li>
<li>Added new settings screen for adjusting mediate display position and scaling</li>
<li>Added synchronisation of media library list with playlist events</li>
<li>Added new settings screen for adjusting audio graphic equaliser</li>
<li>Improved animations when repeated skipping tracks or adjusting volume</li>
<li>Improved installation process - mediate is now shutdown automatically when upgrading</li>
<li>Changed minimum volume level to -50dB from previous -40dB setting for quiet listening in car</li>
</ul>

<h3>Bug Fixes</h3>
<ul>
<li>Fixed occasional "division by zero" error as reported in forums.</li>
<li>Fixed potential threading issues with plugins writing to logfile &amp; triggering actions</li>
<li>Fixed problem with some animations not scaling properly to different screen resolutions</li>
<li>Fixed problem with an invalid theme name preventing mediate from starting</li>
<li>Fixed vertical cropping of some foreign characters in media filenames</li>
<li>Fixed stale media and playlist details in information screen after playlist ends</li>
</ul>

<h2>Support Resources</h2>
<p>If you need any assistance with mediate please visit the support forum on our website. Support is provided free of charge both for trial and purchased editions of mediate, and is available at <a href="http://www.athomemedia.co.uk/support">www.athomemedia.co.uk/support</a>.</p>

<p>If you have a question of any sort please post an appropriate topic in the Ask for help section. Equally, we would welcome any bug reports or feature requests in the appropriate sections.</p>
<p>We will strive to answer any questions posted on the forum as quickly as possible. Alternatively, please feel free to email us at <a href="mailto:support@athomemedia.co.uk">support@athomemedia.co.uk</a>.</p>


<h2>Release History</h2>
<p>
Release notes from earlier versions of mediate are included below for reference.
</p>

<h2>mediate 1.6.0</h2>

<h3>Enhancements</h3>
<ul>
    <li>Added new custom DirectX rendering engine for theme graphics and text</li>
    <li>Added support for hardware accelerated graduated shading &amp; fading of theme graphics and text</li>
    <li>Added support for hardware accelerated vertical &amp; horizontal scaling of theme graphics and text</li>
    <li>Added support for hardware accelerated vertical &amp; horizontal flipping of theme graphics and text</li>
    <li>Added support for hardware accelerated rotation (X, Y &amp; Z) of theme graphics and text</li>
    <li>Added support for underlined and outlined text effects</li>
    <li>Added support for clipping text and for horizontal scrolling of text</li>
    <li>Added support for new animation effects - rotating, scaling & resizing</li>
    <li>Added support for using Timers in themes - allows functions to be triggered at set intervals</li>
    <li>Added support for selecting theme in advanced configuration settings screen</li>
    <li>Improved screen saver animation - image now moves to prevent screen burn</li>
    <li>Improved debugging console with several additional commands</li>
    <li>Improved contrast of console display (now has tinted background)</li>
    <li>Improved smoothness of slideshow pan/zoom animation effect</li>
    <li>Improved support for older graphic hardware (particularly 16bit graphic cards)</li>
    <li>Improved animation of button controls when clicked with mouse or touchscreen</li>
    <li>Improved application performance in a number of critical areas</li>
</ul>

<h3>Bug Fixes</h3>
<ul>
    <li>Fixed bug where download button for new version of mediate wasn't working</li>
    <li>Fixed a number of problems with "lost device" handling when running fullscreen</li>
    <li>Fixed bug with navigating media folders containing ":" character in the name</li>
    <li>Fixed bug with "No disc in drive" windows message appearing under rare circumstances</li>
</ul>

<h2>mediate 1.5.0</h2>

<h3>Enhancements</h3>
<ul>
    <li>Added support for DVD playback including full menu navigation</li>
    <li>Added mouse and touchscreen support</li>
    <li>Added support for media seeking using mouse or touchscreen</li>
    <li>Added new plugin architecture to allow future extensibility</li>
    <li>Added new weather plugin to show current and forecast local weather information</li>
    <li>Added new music visualisation effect</li>
    <li>Added support for legacy video cards without 32bit texture support</li>
    <li>Added new Video mixing render mode (VMR7) for cards without VMR9 support</li>
    <li>Added optional online check for new versions of mediate</li>
    <li>Improved debugging console with several additional commands</li>
    <li>Added new advanced configuration screen accessible from mediate tray application</li>
</ul>

<h3>Advanced Configuration</h3>
<ul>
    <li>Added support for using a custom rotating screen saver image</li>
    <li>Added support for configuring debugging and logfile settings</li>
    <li>Added support for hiding and auto maximising mediate window border</li>
    <li>Added support for selecting a custom key binding profile</li>
    <li>Added support for customising audio and video devices</li>
    <li>Added support for customising DVD audio and video codecs</li>
    <li>Added support for configuring known audio and video formats</li>
    <li>Added support for configuring Internet proxy settings</li>
</ul>

<h3>Bug Fixes</h3>
<ul>
    <li>Fixed bug where picture thumbnails would occasionally flicker on some graphic cards</li>
    <li>Fixed bug where slideshow would run slowly whilst playing a video</li>
    <li>Fixed bug with excessive CPU usage when mediate window is hidden</li>
</ul>


<h2>mediate 1.4.0</h2>

<h3>Enhancements</h3>
<ul>
    <li>Added tray application for mediate so that it can be launched by double clicking tray icon</li>
    <li>Added sorting of music files into alphabetical order</li>
    <li>Added support for sorting video and picture files by name or date</li>
    <li>Added a command console - press tilde key (`) on keyboard - for debugging</li>
    <li>Added support for automatically restarting when screen mode or theme changed in settings</li>
    <li>Added logfile output (in "logs" directory) to assist with support diagnostics</li>
    <li>Added support for non-english characters in theme files</li>
    <li>Added workaround for DivX settings manager causing mediate to lose focus</li>
    <br/>
    <li>Improved mediate media manager application - added drag and drop and editing support</li>
    <li>Improved media playback - a playlist of current folder is now automatically created when selecting a media item</li>
    <li>Improved speed when switching between grid and list modes for media browsing</li>
    <li>Improved graphics, fonts and help text in tv theme</li>
    <br/>
    <li>Implemented user feature request 0000038 - mediate now prevents display power saving</li>
</ul>

<h3>Bug Fixes</h3>
<ul>
    <li>Fixed bug where two virtual folders with same name were not combined in media list</li>
    <li>Fixed bug where parsing of theme or configuration XML files could sometimes fail</li>
    <li>Fixed bug where some video files could cause mediate to quit unexpectedly</li>
    <li>Fixed minor graphic glitch in plasma backgroud animation of tv theme</li>
    <li>Fixed bug where mediate would consume excessive CPU when minimized</li>
</ul>

<h2>mediate 1.3.0</h2>

<h3>Enhancements</h3>
<ul>
    <li>Added support for "Power" button on remote control to launch or quit mediate</li>
    <li>Added support for using "Exit" button to navigate to parent media directory</li>
    <li>Added animation support for user interface fade and movement effects</li>
    <li>Added on screen display of current video and audio playlist item</li>
    <li>Added support for enabling/disabling sound effects in user interface</li>
    <li>Added support for setting media playback volume including on screen display of volume</li>
    <br/>
    <li>Improved use of mediate in windowed mode (can now resize user interface window)</li>
    <li>Improved on screen display for media playback with duration &amp; progress display</li>
    <li>Improved on screen feedback for media functions (play, pause, forward, rewind etc.)</li>
    <li>Improved media fast forward and rewind performance, and added short clips of media whilst we fast forward or rewind</li>
    <li>Improved video playback support for a much wider range of graphic cards</li>
    <li>Improved user interface scaling for different screen modes</li>
    <li>Improved licensing functionality - without a license mediate operates in trial mode for 20 minutes</li>
</ul>
</p>

<p>
Bug Fixes
<ul>
        <li>Simplified playlist operation when using two playlists at once (one for music/video and one for pictures)</li>
</ul>
</p>



<h2>Finally</h2>
<p>
We hope you enjoy using mediate as much as we do - we love to get feedback from our customers so
please come and visit us on our website and tell us about your experiences with mediate.</p>

<p>Thank you,</p>
<p>
@home media limited
</p>

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